Search results for "Specific travel" in Home Design Ideas

Before purchasing their early 20th-century Prairie-style home, perfect in so many ways for their growing family, the parents asked LiLu whether its imperfections could be remedied. Specifically, they were sad to leave a kid-focused happy home full of color, pattern, texture, and durability thanks to LiLu. Could the new house, with lots of woodwork, be made brighter and lighter? Of course. In the living areas, LiLu selected a high-gloss turquoise paint that reflects light for selected cabinets and the fireplace surround; the color complements original handmade blue-green tile in the home. Graphic floral and abstract prints, and furnishings and accessories in lively shades of pink, were layered throughout to create a bright, playful aesthetic. Elsewhere, staircase spindles were painted turquoise to bring out their arts-and-craft design and heighten the abstract wallpaper and striped runner. Wallpaper featuring 60s-era superheroes, metallic butterflies, cartoon bears, and flamingos enliven other rooms of the house. In the kitchen, an orange island adds zest to cream-colored cabinets and brick backsplash. The family’s new home is now their happy home.
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Project designed by Minneapolis interior design studio LiLu Interiors. They serve the Minneapolis-St. Paul area including Wayzata, Edina, and Rochester, and they travel to the far-flung destinations that their upscale clientele own second homes in.
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For more about LiLu Interiors, click here: https://www.liluinteriors.com/
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To learn more about this project, click here:
https://www.liluinteriors.com/blog/portfolio-items/posh-playhouse-2-kitchen/
Find the right local pro for your project

Designers gave the house a wood-and-steel façade that blends traditional and industrial elements.Photography by Eric Hausman
Designers gave the house a wood-and-steel façade that blends traditional and industrial elements. This home’s noteworthy steel shipping container construction material, offers a streamlined aesthetic and industrial vibe, with sustainable attributes and strength. Recycled shipping containers are fireproof, impervious to water and stronger than traditional building materials. Inside, muscular concrete walls, burnished cedar beams and custom oak cabinetry give the living spaces definition, decorative might, and storage and seating options.
For more than 40 years, Fredman Design Group has been in the business of Interior Design. Throughout the years, we’ve built long-lasting relationships with our clients through our client-centric approach. When creating designs, our decisions depend on the personality of our clients—their dreams and their aspirations. We manifest their lifestyle by incorporating elements of design with those of our clients to create a unique environment, down to the details of the upholstery and accessories. We love it when a home feels finished and lived in, with various layers and textures.
While each of our clients and their stories has varied over the years, they’ve come to trust us with their projects—whether it’s a single room to the larger complete renovation, addition, or new construction.
They value the collaborative team that is behind each project, embracing the diversity that each designer is able to bring to their project through their love of art, travel, fashion, nature, history, architecture or film—ultimately falling in love with the nurturing environments we create for them.
We are grateful for the opportunity to tell each of clients’ stories through design. What story can we help you tell?
Call us today to schedule your complimentary consultation - 312-587-9184

This home in Las Campanas, built in the late 80’s, was a major remodel for Diva Interior Design and took more than two years to complete. The home was given a fresh, new look with new sandstone and custom wood flooring through-out the house. All of the baths were remodeled with new tile, stone and plumbing fixtures. The master bath was transformed into a luxury spa and the master closet was expanded to meet the needs of the new owners, with built cabinets for specific storage needs. Cabinets were refinished, walls were re-plastered and painted and all the lighting was redone. After completing the remodeling, Diva designed and furnished the entire house, working with the clients to design a very personalized aesthetic to blend their extensive collection of art and artifacts collected over a lifetime of travel and living in all parts of Europe and Russia. Custom pieces were designed using carving details from Nicolai Fetchin, the Russian artist and carver that lived in Taos and had a great impact on New Mexico style.

This home in Las Campanas, built in the late 80’s, was a major remodel for Diva Interior Design and took more than two years to complete. The home was given a fresh, new look with new sandstone and custom wood flooring through-out the house. All of the baths were remodeled with new tile, stone and plumbing fixtures. The master bath was transformed into a luxury spa and the master closet was expanded to meet the needs of the new owners, with built cabinets for specific storage needs. Cabinets were refinished, walls were re-plastered and painted and all the lighting was redone. After completing the remodeling, Diva designed and furnished the entire house, working with the clients to design a very personalized aesthetic to blend their extensive collection of art and artifacts collected over a lifetime of travel and living in all parts of Europe and Russia. Custom pieces were designed using carving details from Nicolai Fetchin, the Russian artist and carver that lived in Taos and had a great impact on New Mexico style.

The Challenge: Create a rugged yet warm farmhouse feel in a high rise tower. Start with an entire 9600 gross square foot penthouse floor of raw concrete floor, walls and ceiling. Devise inventive ways to address intractable existing conditions including a plumbing layout inconsistent with our Client program, a relatively low ceiling and a massive elevator core and yet take of advantage of panoramic views of the city from all sides.
For example, rather than make a bulky drywall enclosure for existing pipes that poke thru the kitchen counter, they are wrapped with antique painted galvanized sheet metal to keep sight lines around the corner as open as possible. Or, transform an unattractive and inconveniently located 24” diameter vertical duct in the middle of Samantha’s and Hannah’s (grandchildren’s) guest bedroom into part of a lovely arched top bed nook. Or, disguise a chase for above floor plumbing runs as the base for an open buffet counter. The oppressive elevator lobby was shortened; terminating in handmade glass and steel garden doors at both ends. Custom details include a groined vaulted ceiling and arched openings with stone pilasters (for future trompe-l’oeil images of a Tuscany countryside). To maximize a feeling of height, the ceilings start low and get higher as they progress to the outside walls.
The Program: Create a five bedroom condo for an elderly couple with specific and different needs. Mr. likes his privacy and to stay up late into the night on the internet. He likes order. Mrs. has some physical limits that have been addressed in various ways such as shorter travel distances, a step down shower, raised dishwasher and custom cast (to ensure that they won’t rust) iron grab bars. She prefers more disorder.
Spaces should be visually arresting, full of detail and easy to maintain. Private spaces include separate master bathrooms, his and her offices and a multi screened Media Room. The balance of the floor must link spaces into one continuous open room along the south and east elevations using large elements yet keeping an intimate scale, sound control and privacy. For example, a substantial fireplace made of old barn timber framing, country stone and a hammered iron grill is strategically located at the critical Southeast corner. Above, black iron offset pintel hardware allow custom double doors to hide a large flat screen TV.
High technology is in place for inconspicuous yet easy use. Icon driven key pads operate lighting, window treatments, audio visual systems with multiple sources and access to movie and music databases and five HVAC zones with independent humidity controls.
Outstanding Features: Exterior masonry walls have stone culled from five quarries. Sprinkled throughout are surprises - bricks with words as messages from the past, wood trimmed niches and colored glass. Glass pieces set in window corners offer bursts of color when backlit by the sun. These materials are assembled in a rough irregular fashion to look like the work of a mason from the Italian countryside. Interior ceilings and walls have overlapping layers of two plaster colors. Perimeter ceilings are made of smooth random width cedar. Rough planed cedar beams hide ductwork and allow the maximum ceiling height between them.
Custom details are everywhere-consider the ten foot barn doors on overhead track at the service elevator, cedar benches/storage areas that run below window banks, antique air registers, acid washed piano hinges and transom window operators and existing concrete piers that are featured instead of hidden. The floors are made of random width wide plank old oak with hand planed faces and edges. Overall, the elements were carefully selected or painted/stained to form a soft muted gray palate
The Country kitchen features an old fashioned style ice box appearance for the refrigerator/freezer, a tin ceiling, a distressed assortment of cabinets in multiple heights, colors and woods such as the cherry wood buffet cabinet with sliding glass doors on both sides. A backlit breakfast counter, a hammered copper hood and chicken wire inserts are part of the effort to make a comfortable, eclectic old fashioned looking Kitchen while containing the latest appliances and storage systems.
Awards:
This project has won several kitchen and bath awards:
Felman Kitchen Awards
2009 St. Louis Homes and Lifestyles Kitchen of the Year – Gold Award
2008-2009 SubZero Wolf Kitchen Design Contest – Regional Winner, Regional Designer’s Choice
2010 NKBA Art of the Industry – Pinnacle of Design Award
2010 NKBA Art of the Industry – First Place Medium Kitchen
2010 NKBA Art of the Industry – Consumer’s Choice Award
2010 K&BB Kitchen of the Year Award
Felman Bath Awards
2010 Ladue News Award—Master Bathroom

Before purchasing their early 20th-century Prairie-style home, perfect in so many ways for their growing family, the parents asked LiLu whether its imperfections could be remedied. Specifically, they were sad to leave a kid-focused happy home full of color, pattern, texture, and durability thanks to LiLu. Could the new house, with lots of woodwork, be made brighter and lighter? Of course. In the living areas, LiLu selected a high-gloss turquoise paint that reflects light for selected cabinets and the fireplace surround; the color complements original handmade blue-green tile in the home. Graphic floral and abstract prints, and furnishings and accessories in lively shades of pink, were layered throughout to create a bright, playful aesthetic. Elsewhere, staircase spindles were painted turquoise to bring out their arts-and-craft design and heighten the abstract wallpaper and striped runner. Wallpaper featuring 60s-era superheroes, metallic butterflies, cartoon bears, and flamingos enliven other rooms of the house. In the kitchen, an orange island adds zest to cream-colored cabinets and brick backsplash. The family’s new home is now their happy home.
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Project designed by Minneapolis interior design studio LiLu Interiors. They serve the Minneapolis-St. Paul area including Wayzata, Edina, and Rochester, and they travel to the far-flung destinations that their upscale clientele own second homes in.
------
For more about LiLu Interiors, click here: https://www.liluinteriors.com/
---
To learn more about this project, click here:
https://www.liluinteriors.com/blog/portfolio-items/posh-playhouse-2-kitchen/

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

THE SETUP
Imagine how thrilled Diana was when she was approached about designing a kitchen for a client who is an avid traveler and Francophile. ‘French-country’ is a very specific category of traditional design that combines French provincial elegance with rustic comforts. The look draws on soothing hues, antique accents and a wonderful fusion of polished and relic’d finishes.
Her client wanted to feel like she was in the south of France every time she walked into her kitchen. She wanted real honed marble counters, vintage finishes and authentic heavy stone walls like you’d find in a 400-year old château in Les Baux-de-Provence.
Diana’s mission: capture the client’s vision, design it and utilize Drury Design’s sourcing and building expertise to bring it to life.
Design Objectives:
Create the feel of an authentic vintage French-country kitchen
Include natural materials that would have been used in an old French château
Add a second oven
Omit an unused desk area in favor of a large, tall pantry armoire
THE REMODEL
Design Challenges:
Finding real stone for the walls, and the craftsmen to install it
Accommodate for the thickness of the stones
Replicating château beam architecture
Replicating authentic French-country finishes
Find a spot for a new steam oven
Design Solutions:
Source and sort true stone. Utilize veteran craftsmen to apply to the walls using old-world techniques
Furr out interior window casings to adjust for the thicker stone walls
Source true reclaimed beams
Utilize veteran craftsmen for authentic finishes and distressing for the island, tall pantry armoire and stucco hood
Modify the butler’s pantry base cabinet to accommodate the new steam oven
THE RENEWED SPACE
Before we started work on her new French-country kitchen, the homeowner told us the kitchen that came with the house was “not my kitchen.”
“I felt like a stranger,” she told us during the photoshoot. “It wasn’t my color, it wasn’t my texture. It wasn’t my style… I didn’t have my stamp on it.”
And now?
“I love the fact that my family can come in here, wrap their arms around it and feel comfortable,” she said. “It’s like a big hug.”

THE SETUP
Imagine how thrilled Diana was when she was approached about designing a kitchen for a client who is an avid traveler and Francophile. ‘French-country’ is a very specific category of traditional design that combines French provincial elegance with rustic comforts. The look draws on soothing hues, antique accents and a wonderful fusion of polished and relic’d finishes.
Her client wanted to feel like she was in the south of France every time she walked into her kitchen. She wanted real honed marble counters, vintage finishes and authentic heavy stone walls like you’d find in a 400-year old château in Les Baux-de-Provence.
Diana’s mission: capture the client’s vision, design it and utilize Drury Design’s sourcing and building expertise to bring it to life.
Design Objectives:
Create the feel of an authentic vintage French-country kitchen
Include natural materials that would have been used in an old French château
Add a second oven
Omit an unused desk area in favor of a large, tall pantry armoire
THE REMODEL
Design Challenges:
Finding real stone for the walls, and the craftsmen to install it
Accommodate for the thickness of the stones
Replicating château beam architecture
Replicating authentic French-country finishes
Find a spot for a new steam oven
Design Solutions:
Source and sort true stone. Utilize veteran craftsmen to apply to the walls using old-world techniques
Furr out interior window casings to adjust for the thicker stone walls
Source true reclaimed beams
Utilize veteran craftsmen for authentic finishes and distressing for the island, tall pantry armoire and stucco hood
Modify the butler’s pantry base cabinet to accommodate the new steam oven
THE RENEWED SPACE
Before we started work on her new French-country kitchen, the homeowner told us the kitchen that came with the house was “not my kitchen.”
“I felt like a stranger,” she told us during the photoshoot. “It wasn’t my color, it wasn’t my texture. It wasn’t my style… I didn’t have my stamp on it.”
And now?
“I love the fact that my family can come in here, wrap their arms around it and feel comfortable,” she said. “It’s like a big hug.”

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

Our client had recently purchased a townhouse by Frick Park and knew she wanted to upgrade the builder-grade kitchen to better meet her needs. We decided to work with the existing layout of the kitchen as we optimized storage and increased functionality of the space. One request made by our client was for the addition of an island, which became a focal point of the kitchen. We sourced a specific slab of natural stone for the countertop, which featured green veining that paired beautifully with the green cabinetry of the island.
The main kitchen area was updated with timeless cabinetry that featured a more muted paint color for a two-toned look, and recycled glass countertops requested specifically by our client. We also designed and built a multipurpose area for the wine refrigerator and microwave, and incorporated wall cabinets to display glassware and decor and increase storage. Custom lighting was also built into all cabinets and thoughtfully hidden for a seamless look.
Another aspect of the project was the installation of an elevator near the kitchen that allows our client to effortlessly travel from the first to the second and third floors as she ages in place in the home. The result was a home thoughtfully designed and built to serve our client for years to come.

THE SETUP
Imagine how thrilled Diana was when she was approached about designing a kitchen for a client who is an avid traveler and Francophile. ‘French-country’ is a very specific category of traditional design that combines French provincial elegance with rustic comforts. The look draws on soothing hues, antique accents and a wonderful fusion of polished and relic’d finishes.
Her client wanted to feel like she was in the south of France every time she walked into her kitchen. She wanted real honed marble counters, vintage finishes and authentic heavy stone walls like you’d find in a 400-year old château in Les Baux-de-Provence.
Diana’s mission: capture the client’s vision, design it and utilize Drury Design’s sourcing and building expertise to bring it to life.
Design Objectives:
Create the feel of an authentic vintage French-country kitchen
Include natural materials that would have been used in an old French château
Add a second oven
Omit an unused desk area in favor of a large, tall pantry armoire
THE REMODEL
Design Challenges:
Finding real stone for the walls, and the craftsmen to install it
Accommodate for the thickness of the stones
Replicating château beam architecture
Replicating authentic French-country finishes
Find a spot for a new steam oven
Design Solutions:
Source and sort true stone. Utilize veteran craftsmen to apply to the walls using old-world techniques
Furr out interior window casings to adjust for the thicker stone walls
Source true reclaimed beams
Utilize veteran craftsmen for authentic finishes and distressing for the island, tall pantry armoire and stucco hood
Modify the butler’s pantry base cabinet to accommodate the new steam oven
THE RENEWED SPACE
Before we started work on her new French-country kitchen, the homeowner told us the kitchen that came with the house was “not my kitchen.”
“I felt like a stranger,” she told us during the photoshoot. “It wasn’t my color, it wasn’t my texture. It wasn’t my style… I didn’t have my stamp on it.”
And now?
“I love the fact that my family can come in here, wrap their arms around it and feel comfortable,” she said. “It’s like a big hug.”

In 1963, Alessandro and Giancarlo Bontempi began to lay the foundation for what would become Bontempi Casa, one of the finest Italian design firms in the world today. The two were already recognized as talented Italian designers, known specifically for their innovative, award-winning interpretations of tables and chairs. Since the 1980s, Bontempi Casa has offered a wide range of modern furniture, but chairs remain the stars of the company’s collection. The room service 360° collection of Bontempi Casa chairs includes the best of the best.
Welcome to room service 360°, the premier destination for the world’s finest modern furniture. As an authorized dealer of the most respected furniture manufacturers in Europe, room service 360° is uniquely positioned to offer the most complete, most comprehensive and most exclusive collections of custom contemporary and modern furniture available on the market today. From world renowned designers at Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Fiam Italia, Foscarini, Gamma Arredamenti, Pianca, Presotto Italia, Tonelli and Tonin Casa, only the finest Italian furniture collections are represented at room service 360°.
On our website you will find the latest collections from top European contemporary/modern furniture designers, leading Italian furniture manufacturers and many exclusive products. We are also proud and excited to offer our interior design blog as an ongoing resource for design fanatics, curious souls and anyone who is looking to be inspired.
In our Philadelphia showroom we carefully select our products and change them frequently to provide our customers with the best possible mix through which they can envision their room’s décor and their life. This is the reason why many of our customers (thank you all!!!) travel for hours, and some fly to our store. This is the reason why we have earned the privilege to be the starting point for modern living for many of you.

THE SETUP
Imagine how thrilled Diana was when she was approached about designing a kitchen for a client who is an avid traveler and Francophile. ‘French-country’ is a very specific category of traditional design that combines French provincial elegance with rustic comforts. The look draws on soothing hues, antique accents and a wonderful fusion of polished and relic’d finishes.
Her client wanted to feel like she was in the south of France every time she walked into her kitchen. She wanted real honed marble counters, vintage finishes and authentic heavy stone walls like you’d find in a 400-year old château in Les Baux-de-Provence.
Diana’s mission: capture the client’s vision, design it and utilize Drury Design’s sourcing and building expertise to bring it to life.
Design Objectives:
Create the feel of an authentic vintage French-country kitchen
Include natural materials that would have been used in an old French château
Add a second oven
Omit an unused desk area in favor of a large, tall pantry armoire
THE REMODEL
Design Challenges:
Finding real stone for the walls, and the craftsmen to install it
Accommodate for the thickness of the stones
Replicating château beam architecture
Replicating authentic French-country finishes
Find a spot for a new steam oven
Design Solutions:
Source and sort true stone. Utilize veteran craftsmen to apply to the walls using old-world techniques
Furr out interior window casings to adjust for the thicker stone walls
Source true reclaimed beams
Utilize veteran craftsmen for authentic finishes and distressing for the island, tall pantry armoire and stucco hood
Modify the butler’s pantry base cabinet to accommodate the new steam oven
THE RENEWED SPACE
Before we started work on her new French-country kitchen, the homeowner told us the kitchen that came with the house was “not my kitchen.”
“I felt like a stranger,” she told us during the photoshoot. “It wasn’t my color, it wasn’t my texture. It wasn’t my style… I didn’t have my stamp on it.”
And now?
“I love the fact that my family can come in here, wrap their arms around it and feel comfortable,” she said. “It’s like a big hug.”

Client wanted some fine art travel photography specifically of Italy, Paris and London. She had recently visited Europe and wanted physical mementos to remind her of the wonderful vacation moments she'd recently had with her husband. She selected five 8x10 matted prints from my print collections (including Wonderful France and Romantic Venice). She asked me to frame them for her so she could then place them in the first floor hallway of her luxury residential property. This photo shows three of the prints she chose and has added, to date, to this very prominent place in her home. Since she has also acquired several other prints from my collections, she is working on getting those placed in her home also.
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